Notable blueways can be found in San Francisco, Maine, Tennessee, Michigan and along the Ohio River near Pittsburgh.

Members of the Mill Creek Yacht Club canoe on the Mill Creek in 2013.(Photo: Tony Tribble for the Enquirer)

"A blueway is not just, hey, you can put your kayak in here at Lake Isabella and take it to Otto Armleder," said Todd Palmeter, who in May will become the next chief executive officer of Great Parks of Hamilton County.

"It's more about what you see on that route of the river after you put in. What are the unique features of that river corridor? It could be a vegetative habitat. Wildlife habitat."

Canoes have proven a powerful draw for the region. Paddlefest draws 2,000 paddlers each year when the Ohio River in front of Cincinnati shuts down to barge traffic to make way for kayaks and canoes.

Thanks to the last ice age 11,700 years ago, Cincinnati provides more opportunities for paddlers than most areas, said Brewster Rhoads, founder of Cincinnati Paddlefest. The melted glaciers left the region with five major waterways that allow for year-round canoeing: the Ohio, the Licking, the Great Miami, the Little Miami and the Whitewater. That's rare, Rhoads said.

"This area has become the reacreational paddling capital of the United States," Rhoads said.

The Great Parks of Hamilton County blueway plan will expand on this effort.

So the parks system wants to hear from you: Do you want more put-ins? More trails? More signs?

The park system completed a comprehensive plan this year that outlined the blueway as one of many initiatives the park system will implement.

The blueway will focus on four waterways: the Ohio River, Great Miami River, Little Miami River and Whitewater.

"That's something we heard a lot of," Palmeter said. "They'd like to see us provide more access to the rivers."

You'll get a chance this summer and fall to weigh in on what you want the blueway to look like. That's when Great Parks of Hamilton County will hold public meetings throughout the region.

The blueway could be an app or website that details all the features along each river.

Palmeter also envisions more access points for canoes and kayaks at Hamilton County parks. Great Parks of Hamilton County has five put-ins, one on the Great Miami River, three on the Little Miami and one on the Ohio River.

He said the park system is working with the brewery 50 West, which has a livery along the Little Miami River in Columbia Township, to identify more sites for canoe and kayak access.

Some popular canoe destinations need more parking and space. During the summer, the parking lot near a small island in the Little Miami, called Bass Island, is full of cars.

Great Parks of Hamilton County has an access point for canoes and kayaks near there.

Some places along the rivers might just have gravel and a place where you can put your feet on solid ground while you launch your canoe.

The blueway doesn't have a budget yet. The plan is to pay for any new construction with a mix of grants and private money and use park funds for the upkeep, Palmeter said.

Palmeter hopes to have the blueway in place by spring 2021.

"We're not talking massive facilities here," Palmeter said.

The public can already weigh and see the development of the master plan for the Great Parks of Hamilton County at mygreatparks.com.